Lotus Emira I4

[JimH]

5 minutes ago, Jon Fuller said:

The review suggested it was hydraulic (same rack as V6) but the hydraulic pressure/flow is provided by an electric pump, rather than an engine mounted mechanical pump.

 

Presumably no space for a mech pump on the 4 banger

It doesn't come with one as Mercedes/AMG use electric PAS......

[C8RKH]

5 hours ago, jep said:

I assume the 4 pot will be tuned to close to 500bhp eventually.

I truly hope so, as that will probably be the best Lotus road car ever delivered from the factory in 75 years....

[jep]

Not sure about that. Too fat on tyres for me, that costs feel. 

I'd take Elan 26, Elise S1 or Exige V6 over Emira. 

Different beasts of course and all Lotus are fab ......well, perhaps not Eletre but that's not Hethel. 

Justin 

[mike_sekinger]

I would expect the aftermarket world to bring a power package upgrade for the I4 long before you see anything from the Factory.

[exeterjeep]

After all Hanger 111/komo-tec  already get up to 475 on the v6 Evora.

[darkSol]

On 20/07/2023 at 08:12, JimH said:

I’m pretty sure it hasn’t changed since the Seneca blue launch car (with no engine) was shown at Hethel 2 years ago….

 

Aftermarket will undoubtedly make an epic looking carbon fiber one.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

Any idea on the lead time for the 4 pot? Seems to be a lot of V6 cars at the dealers, might take one for a spin but it's the AMG engine/box combo that really appeals.... perhaps. 

[JimH]

There's currently a 2/3 week delay in providing details of how long the next manufacturing/delivery delay is for UK i4 deliveries, and that's for the first orders placed in July 2021. If you were to order now I you could be looking at 18 months to 2 years year lead time at a guess.

I suspect that it's a combination of the fact that the M139 i4 engine/gearbox integration is far from perfect at the moment (don't ask me how I know for sure as I can't tell you 😉) and production capacity is being diverted towards some i4's for the China market and the USA/Canada V6's (those guys haven't seen a single customer car yet as they're still pending the equivalent of type approval and emissions testing for North America) for the rest of 2023.

I gave up waiting last week, cancelled my 8th July 2021 i4 order and bought a dealer demo V6 Auto (and it's brilliant!) - as you say there are quite a few manuals around (and the odd auto) at the moment for less than a current i4 FE price - they're just pre-registered (to Lotus Cars Ltd) and with a few hundred (accompanied by dealer and tracked by Lotus) demo miles in many cases....

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

On 22/10/2023 at 13:02, JimH said:

There's currently a 2/3 week delay in providing details of how long the next manufacturing/delivery delay is for UK i4 deliveries, and that's for the first orders placed in July 2021. If you were to order now I you could be looking at 18 months to 2 years year lead time at a guess....

Thanks for that, interesting reading. I don't have the patience for a long wait  and as you say there's a number of ex-demo, pre-owned, cancelled orders about. I'm. curious though... I see you had an Evora IPS, how do you think that compares to the Emira Auto? I had a deposit down when the car was first announced but cancelled when they said the i4 was a long way off. I figured the V6 was too similar to the my old Evora S IPS. Be interested to hear your thoughts. 

[JimH]

Me too, but the newer Emira V6 auto is 400bhp as opposed to 350bhp with the newer intercooled supercharger and some more iterative software improvements since the Evora S1 IPS - it feels faster and more modern somehow…..

On 09/08/2023 at 17:56, Jack Stone said:

Thanks @JimH

How does manual shifting performance  compare between I4 and V6 auto?

There really isn’t much in it given the current pre-prod i4 implementation 😉

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

The dual clutch 8 speed on the i4 appeals over the old IPS box, although I never had any complaints about it when I had my Evora. 

[Neil D.]

According to a french dealer, i4 will not be available in Europe before week 10 / 2024.

Reason: homologation....

I find this rather difficult to understand, as Emira V6, and Mercedes engine are conform. 

Neil

[Al]

On 22/10/2023 at 13:02, JimH said:

There's currently a 2/3 week delay in providing details of how long the next manufacturing/delivery delay is for UK i4 deliveries, and that's for the first orders placed in July 2021. If you were to order now I you could be looking at 18 months to 2 years year lead time at a guess.

I suspect that it's a combination of the fact that the M139 i4 engine/gearbox integration is far from perfect at the moment (don't ask me how I know for sure as I can't tell you 😉) and production capacity is being diverted towards some i4's for the China market and the USA/Canada V6's (those guys haven't seen a single customer car yet as they're still pending the equivalent of type approval and emissions testing for North America) for the rest of 2023.

I gave up waiting last week, cancelled my 8th July 2021 i4 order and bought a dealer demo V6 Auto (and it's brilliant!) - as you say there are quite a few manuals around (and the odd auto) at the moment for less than a current i4 FE price - they're just pre-registered (to Lotus Cars Ltd) and with a few hundred (accompanied by dealer and tracked by Lotus) demo miles in many cases....

Just done exactly the same as yourself and I know of another Scottish owner who has done exactly the same this week.  Lotus are shooting themselves in the foot. Again.

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, Al said:

Lotus are shooting themselves in the foot. Again.

Lotus 2.0, as I have said many times has just been a disaster for many traditional Lotus customers. As others have said, god knows what the more fickle new customers are thinking.

And why do Chinese Eletre customers get lifetime warranties and free access to chargers and the UK don't?  Welcome to "Lotus 2.0 - for the Chinese drivers......" I no longer regard Lotus 2.0 as a British manufacturer. It is like Nissan and the others.

[Akajak]

I think it’s what they can get away with eg Porsche warranties were always longer in the USA

[baldyash]

Just had the  i4 yet again delayed call! Now summer 2024 ,maybe. After waiting since July 21 I have now cancelled as I am very sceptical about any proposed delivery dates now. Lotus Cars  in my opinion are beyond incompetent. I say this after having 4 Lotus cars. There has been plenty of time to resolve issues. Excuses are no longer of any standing. It was a set statement read out. I said I wished to cancel and to be honest,the poor guy just said yes OK. He seemed very resigned to the  comment! No fight,nothing. I think I wasn't the first and no doubt not the last! 

[C8RKH]

Absolutely piss poor and shocking. Time some senior managers/leadership fell on their swords. But of course, they won't. What a shit show. No excuses please anyone, they've had massive recruitment, and massive investment.

[Techyd]

That is a shame @baldyash but completely understood, I'd have probably done the same.

I don't know when Lotus are going to realise this new sales model doesn't work and this attempt at centrally managing the sale with satellite agents who are unable to help combined with no cohesion across their communications and even their own departments it would seem!

Expect the price to go up again as well.

[DarrylV8]

Believe me chaps it’s NO better with Eletre sales 

[Al]

Well don't hold your breath on a quick refund either.  Supposedly 14 business days but that is also a fantasy.  

I cancelled my i4 Emira on order since 10th June 21 on 2nd Nov.  I checked by Chat bot that they had it and it was confirmed.  I chased the repayment on the 17th by Chat bot as not a thing heard.  They had it but an internal restructuring meant it had slipped through the net but it was now passed again and I'd hear from them.  Nothing until today when Lotus Customer Don't Care phoned.  I thought it was about refund.  Oh no! it was about my order as if still live and he was starting to read out a standard statement which I thought was about getting my order fulfilled! 🤦‍♂️ I don't know what he was going to say as I stopped him!  Sounds like it wasn't what I was expecting!  Later on refund 'team' got in touch to say now in hand but expect up to 13th Dec for it!  Aaaaargh 😡

[C8RKH]

I do hope someone in authority from Lotus is reading all this shite piss poor commentary on their performance, however, I am not holding my breath.

@Al, I'd be reading my contract and if Lotus are in breach, I'd be on the phone telling them and demanding immediate action, immediate refund of monies, plus compensation for loss of interest (money not your mind share) and your wasted time having to chase their incompetence.

[DarrylV8]

@C8RKH I‘be told both Conor Horner & Geoff Dowding about how crap dealing with Lotus is; either they aren’t listening or they aren’t interested!

[Keith B]

Hi, I am a deposit holder for an i4. Have had several delays for my car. The last update I had from LCC, before today was around November 2023, when I received a phone call statement that my car has been delayed until June 2024, due to awaiting type approval. Today I was informed by LCC, that i4 deliveries are not expected to start until the last quarter of 2024. Reason given was again, type approval. If true this it’s extremely disappointing. Can anyone else confirm this is the case?

 

[C8RKH]

With the hundreds of millions invested, the hundreds of staff, and 75 legacy years building motor cars. One would have thought Lotus may have known what is was doing!

Sorry for your delay Keith. It just seems par for the norm right now. I believe a lot of our 'Murican brethren are still waiting for the V6 type approvals to come through....

[Al]

Hi, I share your pain. I sometimes wonder if it will ever arrive. Do what a lot of us have done. Cancel order, buy a V6  nearly new and save thousands £££ and be happy out driving your Lotus. They don’t give a monkeys about customer care so by buying nearly new from a dealer you  are back in good old relationship territory. The central based buying experience is a complete failure IMO